


It's a Hand Thing

by screamingiminlovewithyou



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23268058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/screamingiminlovewithyou/pseuds/screamingiminlovewithyou
Summary: Hands. It all leads to them. Those are MJ’s favorite part of the body to draw, they’re too complex and trying to perfect them takes a lot of time and eraser dust.
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	It's a Hand Thing

**Author's Note:**

> it's the hand flex, man. 
> 
> beautiful and showstopping.

Hands. It all leads to them. Those are MJ’s favorite part of the body to draw, they’re too complex and trying to perfect them takes a lot of time and eraser dust.

It’s been too long since she began to learn how to draw that it just comes so natural to her now and it also helped her to read people. You look at their hands? You know if that person is hard working, rough or quite delicate depending on how ‘used’ they look.

So of course, to her it wasn’t a surprise when in her AP English class, she had to read about the _“hand flex”_ as her classmates call it and analyze their relation within the books, movie adaptations and real life.

She thought it’d be easy at first because her book list that consisted from the infamous Jane Austen with Pride and Prejudice and Emma, to Louisa M. Alcott with Little Women and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë; she long ago annotated a lot on those so for her, half her work was done although she had two weeks to work in the hard part. Figure out how those speeches and metaphors fitted into her day to day life.

But for now, she would grab lunch with Peter and Ned whom she usually shared a table with and listened to them talk about nerd things. Although sometimes she liked to get lost on Peter’s voice.

~~But hopefully no one has caught up on it yet.~~

“Hi” She said, sitting down in front of Peter

He gave her a bright smile “Hi Em, how you doing?”

“You ask as if you haven’t seen me 2 hours ago”

“Yeah well, I know APs make you crazy” He shrugged

She smile a little

_He knows her too well_

“Well, English is already too hard, but luckily I already read the books we have to read”

He lifted his eyebrows

“So not hard then?” He asked, biting into his sandwich

She swallowed, “I mean yeah, but I have to watch some movies and write a paper” She rolled her eyes

Peter was silent for a second

“Maybe I can join you for the movies?” He quipped

Her eyebrows rose to her hairline, kind of a cynical look on her face

“You’re up to that, Parker?”

He smirked, “Is that a challenge, Jones?”

They kept an intense eye contact for a second

_Peter blinked first._

“As long as it doesn’t scare me like last time”

She chuckled

And before she could retort with something witty, that’s when Ned sat down, greeted them and proceeded to talk animatedly about something that happened in his lab

“You’re the worst” She said under her breath before tuning into Ned

Peter turned to her and winked

_She didn’t notice._

_i. Little Women_

It was a random Wednesday afternoon when Michelle walked into her best friend’s (yeah, he doesn’t know he is her best friend and she intends to keep it that way) apartment and knocked; a disheveled Peter opened the door and let her in

“I didn’t know you were coming today” he said, scratching the back of his head

“Yeah” she sighed “I’m sorry I can come over another day, just wanted a bit of company” She looked at him, looking a bit unsure not knowing if she did something she wasn’t supposed to

“Well”, he clapped his hands and smiled “Let’s get movie night started”

“I brought snacks” She took out the snack bag out of her messenger bag and threw at him, watching him catch it with ease

He smiled big

She smiled back.

During the movie, she could see him focused, and doing his best to understand without having read the book before which was funny considering there were a lot of comments about people not understanding the 2019 version because of the time jumps, but Peter was too smart to not get the different lighting and the way the director wanted to portray the story.

As the movie reached the middle, they were practically shoulder to shoulder, at some point they got a bowl for popcorn and iced tea as per MJ’s request.

Then something happened;

In tv, Jo and Laurie were going to ice skate in the frozen lake and at the same time, MJ went to grab more popcorn from the bowl but instead of touching those, she felt some fingers, she quickly looked at Peter and saw him blushing.

She pursed her lips and quickly pulled her hand away.

It suddenly got hot in the room.

He didn’t ask about anything else for the remaining of the movie.

By the end of it, May, already got home and Michelle needed to leave and because Peter’s a gentleman (and his aunt made him) he offered to walk her to her place because “It’s safer and I know how much you rather walk than drive there”

They started walking under the lampposts that adorned the street, him carrying her bag so she could walk more freely.

They talked about everything and nothing at the same time, shoulders knocking and giggling after a particular push she gave him

“God, you’re like Jo” Peter said chuckling

“That’d make you Laurie then” She said, looking funnily at him

He fake gasped “Am I your best friend?”

She shook her head

“You’re my pain in the ass”

He laughed and kept walking, their hands meeting a second time that night but instead of pulling them away, their pinkies loosely wrapped around one another

“The night’s a bit chilly-”

“You have patrol tonight?”

They talked at the same time

He blushed, still not over MJ finding out his biggest secret to date

~~(Luckily she hasn’t found out he likes _likes_ her and Ned’s been bullying about it since it slipped out of his mouth)~~

“Yeah”

They reached the front door of her building, halting up and Peter handing her bag over to her.

She took it and slung it over her shoulder, then looked down and realized their pinkies were still linked

“Be careful okay?” She said, looking up at him through her eyelashes

“You care?” He playfully gasped and put his hand on his chest

She rolled her eyes

“Not really, I’m just being polite” She smirked

“You are annoying” He said, pulling on her finger

“So are you” She retorted, pulling back

He swung their arms a little

“Text you when I get home” He said, walking away with his hands in his pockets and looking at her, spidey reflex helping him not fall down the stairs

She chuckled, “Have a good one, spidey”

He saluted and walked off to some random alley

She bit her lip and walked inside to the elevator,

_Why did I feel electricity run through my veins when our hands touched?_

_ii. Pride and Prejudice_

By the time for the second movie, they had random quizzes popping up and MJ thought it’d be a good idea to keep on studying 24/7 and working really hard on school so she wouldn’t be actually surprised by the time they had to do an assignment or if she was called up to the board.

Sadly, she didn’t have time to watch movies with Peter and as she got started on her English assignment, she was reading her annotations on Pride and Prejudice, one of her favorite movies and books although if you asked what her favorite Jane Austen was, she’d definitely say Persuasion.

As she read about Mr. Darcy and have her many thoughts about her, she wondered how do Peter’s hands look and how would they look against hers. Would they be bigger? Would they be rough after all the hard work? Would they be soft?

She noticed she hasn’t paid that much attention to Peter as she did in their freshman year, but lately as she’s thought of him more than just a friend (hands be damned), she realized she needed to know more. Not about his looks, not about his mind (although she’ll archive that one for another day) but her hands. She wants to know the stories

And what’s a better way to know a story than by the scars on someone’s skin.

So of course, the next time she went to Peter’s apartment for study date with Ned and their new addition to their group ––Betty included, she would put a small plan on motion.

“Right so,” Betty started, too many papers on her hand to count

“If you calculate the triangle measure…”

Michelle looked at her and realized Ned was the only one listening, apparently, they had that class together and she’s trying to stay out of geometry for the rest of the day.

With a sigh, she went back to look into her laptop screen until she suddenly felt like someone was trying to get her attention by softly kicking her foot,

She looked up and met Peter’s eyes.

“Let’s go to the kitchen” He mouthed and getting up to walk out of the cramped room

She got up and walked out after him, finding him filling a glass of water and sitting on the counter, legs parted

She walked up to him and positioned herself beside her left leg

“So, what do we have here” She said, looking around

Peter finished his glass of water and after placing it down on the counter, he said, “I couldn’t stay in that room anymore and you looked like you were about to rip your hair out” He chuckled

She smiled, patting his leg for him to move over so she could sit beside him

“Looks like you know what’s best for me” she knocked his foot with hers the second she sat beside him

“I’m observant” He whispered

She pushed him

He grabbed her hand

~~Stupid reflexes~~

He looked at their hands together and she just watched him do his thing

All she worked on about the _hand flex_ gone out the window the second he ran his finger along her rings and put their hands up to measure them together,

_Hers are obviously larger_

_And his are too soft_

_–––for someone that goes out fighting crime every night_

“I heal fast” He whispered

It was so quiet you could practically hear their heartbeat –– or at least Peter could

She looked at him, a question in her eyes

“My hands are soft because I heal fast”

Realization downed on her

“Did I say that out loud”

He laughed

“Kinda, yeah”

They gazed into each other’s eyes before they heard Ned coming out of the room they’ve spent all afternoon in and looking for them

Peter jumped down the counter first then grabbed her hand and helped her down

_She felt as if they were Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth_

_But Her hand in Peter’s fit better_

_iii. Jane Eyre_

A week has gone by and MJ has been hanging around Peter even more than usual, sometimes just both of them, sometimes with Ned and sometimes each in their respective homes but on face time while they studied or even cooked, in Michelle’s case.

But this particular night, MJ was panic working because her paper’s deadline was coming soon and she felt like she wasn’t done yet, she was working non-stop and was also ignoring her phone that went off a few times,

Of course, she didn’t know what was going on outside her bubble.

The knock on her window and the latex figure standing on the other side of it came as a surprise to her,

And if she screamed a little and the thing outside the window laughed, that is none of anyone’s business but theirs.

After getting over her quick scare and having Peter try to calm her down, he told her he just came over because he knew she was very stressed and that she needed to leave her room or else she’d explode.

To what she agreed then asked him what he had in mind or else she’d get back to work and send him back to patrol although he’s said it’s been boring and slow for a Wednesday night.

Next thing MJ knows, they’re flying across town, Peter holding her really tight and she afraid of looking down because this is the first time she actually got to be around Spider-Man and didn’t know how quick it was for him to swing (which now seems a lot, to be honest).

After stepping down in one of the tallest buildings with the greatest view, they sat near the edge and shared some candy Peter carried with him whenever it was a somewhat long night,

“This is beautiful” Michelle said, looking at all the lights in front of her

“Think you could draw it?” Peter asked, looking at her staring ahead

She turned to him, “I think I can find a prettier view though” She breathed

“But to answer your question”, she popped a gummy in her mouth “I could”

He smiled at her and sat back, leaning on his arms but not fully laying down, his right arm holding his weight

She mirrored his position, except her left arm touched his fingers

And looking down, she smiled, her hair covering her face a little

Peter slowly pulled the strands away from her face, tucking it behind her ear, blushing a little and went back to his previous position,

But this time,

_His fingers filled the gaps between hers_

By Friday, Michelle finally handed in her paper and was finally relaxing, she was happy and felt content of all the talks and whispered nothings Peter and her have been doing lately, so she took her good mood and walked over to lunch to sit in front of her two dorks and Betty.

She and Ned have gotten closer but she seems to like someone else and Peter was nowhere to be seen,

“Hey guys so for my birthday, I planned a themed party. It’ll be period movies” Betty said excitedly

MJ internally groaned

“That sounds fun Bee” Ned said, “Do we have to bring someone?”

“Well, yeah that’d be ideal” She said, thinking “But that depends, I mean you don’t have to” She said quickly, looking at MJ

Michelle took a bit of her water and grabbed a fruit cube, “Oh, I think I have someone in mind” She chuckled

Peter came out of nowhere and breathless

“Cindy asked me to go with her to Betty’s party and I said yes” He said the second he sat down and downed his water bottle

Something in Michelle snapped

“You did what?” She whispered

“Peter that’s great” Betty exclaimed

Ned just looked at MJ

She looked back at Ned and gave him a tight smile

_iv. Emma_

The rest of the week and the next passed and Michelle barely spoke to Peter, he asked her a few times if he did something wrong but she just played it off as if she had home stuff going on.

Pretending to be okay with it as the boy you ~~love~~ like makes plans with another girl and seems happy about it is hard, but she’s his friend first and she tries to help him whenever she feels like having an actual conversation with him that isn’t one-word responses or grunts here and there.

He seemed to stop caring about it or stop asking if she was okay when it got to the end of the week and the night of the party. Ned messaged her a few times about it and said he didn’t know why he agreed to go with someone else to which she replied that he can do what he pleases.

_But deep down she thought they had something cute going on, damn the hand holding and just pointedly looking at Peter’s and wondering how they’d fill running down her body and just holding her._

A girl has wishes.

Fast forward to the party, MJ felt like she was taken back to those years, she felt like she was inside the books she loves to read the movies she binge watches when she feels like she has something missing. Everyone looked beautiful and the gowns were just amazing, there were a lot of gold details and yellow, and Betty looked like Emma. From the book and the movie adaptation.

“Chelle you’re here!” Betty excitedly said, approaching her and hugging her tight

“Happy birthday Bet” She smiled, returning the quick hug

“You look beautiful!” Betty said, grabbing her hand “Let me see you” She said as she twirled her friend and her beautiful navy blue dress twirled with her

Betty laughed and twirled too when MJ asked her to do the same, then looking up, both of them saw Peter walk in with Cindy. She had her hand wrapped around his bicep.

He looked like a prince and Michelle was one second away from hitting her head against the nearest wall.

Peter looked for Betty but his eyes met Michelle’s and that’s when both of them felt a fire go off inside them.

_MJ turned around and went off to talk to Gwen and Abraham_

Two hours or so later, it was time for the infamous dance. Everyone got up and were divided in women and men, all of them standing in front of their partner. Then the dance began, it was a bit weird and crooked since they could barely follow the choreography or make sense of what they had to do, so it was all laughs and enjoyment.

MJ watched it sitting down and drinking a bit of punch and having lots of chocolate covered strawberries, feeling a bit down but still enjoying herself despite being one of the “unlucky” as others would call women like her in the books.

Suddenly, she felt someone step in front of her, and looking up she saw no one other than Peter Benjamin Parker.

She said nothing and just bit into her strawberry

“How come you’re always eating fruits when I look at you?” He asked quietly

“I like to be healthy” She said, still looking at him

He cleared his throat

“Would you um-” He stopped and breathed in, seeming like he was talking himself into it

“Would you dance with me?” He stretched his right hand

“What about your companion, Mr. Parker?” She asked, a bit of a venom-like tone coming out of her and lifting an eyebrow, challenging him

He quickly looked back and saw Cindy dancing with one of her friends then turned to her

“Well miss Jones, she’s dancing” He said

_MJ placed her hand in his_

It was a challenge,

He felt it

“Let’s dance then” She said, getting up and leading him to the dance floor

So, they stood in front of the other and when the song began, they swayed in rhythm, he kept on grabbing her hands and she kept on pulling him closer, none of them making a sound but just the crazy beating of their hearts as they kept putting it all on the way they held each other’s hands.

Until the song stopped and his hands were on her waist and hers were on top of his. Both of them looking directly into each other’s eyes. MJ saw the confusion on Peter’s and she felt the love pour out of hers.

He pulled his hands away and she ran out to the back garden of the venue for air.

It was beautiful, it was well illuminated with Christmas lights and it had a beautiful city view, of course Betty would pick out such a beautiful place for a ball.

It was cold and she was clinging into herself to keep herself warm until she felt familiar hands place firmly on her shoulders

“It’s time we talk” Peter whispered

“There’s nothing to talk about, Pete” Michelle said quietly

He turned her around to look at him, his arms hanging by his side now

“I can’t talk about it” She said

“Why?” He asked, sadly

“Because it’s hard”

“Why is it hard”

“Because I love you, Peter” She said, and to enunciate the ‘you’ she poked him on the chest

“Isn’t that the worst thing you’ve ever heard?” Her eyes were clouded

Peter wrapped his right hand around the one she was pressing on his chest

“I love you too, Chelly” He breathed, “I can’t sleep just thinking about it”

“Then why-” She whispered

“I didn’t think you liked me until May made me watch one of those movies you talked about and that’s when I understood”

“You’re so dense, Parker” She said chuckling

He grabbed her left hand and bringing it closer to his mouth, kissed it then did the same to her right hand

“I’m your dork, though” He said, smiling cheekily

“Maybe so” She retorted, smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you guys liked this!!!
> 
> love it when i get yelled at in the comments
> 
> find me on twitter! @waIIflowcrs


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